Homeless camp near the Hollywood Bowl disbanded

Authorities on Wednesday removed a dozen homeless people from an encampment on a stretch of Los Angeles County land near the Hollywood Bowl after residents complained that the homeless had been using their swimming pools and starting fires.

Mandy Zari, who has lived in a gated community next to the encampment for six years, said the homeless use a path that connects the community to the Hollywood Bowl to enter the neighborhood.

The path is accessible from the hills where the encampment is located.

Zari said the homeless use the community’s pool and showers, leaving dirty clothes and garbage behind.

But the bigger problem is the possibility that someone will ignite a large fire, she said.

“It’s a big hazard,” Zari said. “They can burn the whole mountain down. They move them and they come back. It’s not the first time.”

Another resident, who declined to be identified, said she has called the Los Angeles County Fire Department several times over the years, usually because of worries that someone would accidentally ignite a brush fire.

She said she asks her gardener to clean up the garbage and debris after the homeless leave, but that they always return, even after they are forced to leave their camps.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Johnnie Jones said homeless activists were informed of the plan to disband the encampment and that area residents were warned weeks in advance.

None of the homeless were arrested or cited, and six of them have moved to shelters.

The California Department of Transportation removed trash from the camp, including tents, food, garbage and human waste, Jones said.

--

stephen.ceasar@latimes.com